Long Beach Is Staying Home but Is the No. 2 Team in West; Iowa Is No. 1

The good news was mixed with the not-so-good Sunday for Los Angeles area teams when the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. announced the women’s basketball tournament pairings. Cal State Long Beach discovered that it, as the second-seeded team in the West Regional, was staying home. So is USC, which was given the No. 4 seeding. That they liked.

The bad news for them was that Iowa, the second-ranked team in the nation, will be the top-seeded team in the West Regional, which will be played March 24-26 at Long Beach.

The Hawkeyes (27-1) are considered the No. 1-seeded team in the 40-team national pairings. Tennessee (28-2), the defending champion, was given the No. 1 seeding in the East at Norfolk, Va., Auburn (28-2), ranked No. 1, was given the No. 1 seeding in the Mideast at Athens, Ga., and Texas (30-2) was given the No. 1 seeding in the Midwest at Austin, Tex.

The other seeded team in the West is Washington, which is No. 3. The Huskies (24-4, 16-2) won the Pacific 10.

The NCAA tournament begins with eight first-round games Wednesday, with second-round games to be played over the weekend. The second-round winners advance to the four regionals and those winners go to the championships.

The Final Four is April 1-3 in Tacoma, Wash.

The West Regional will be played in the University Gym, which has the smallest capacity of any of the regional tournament sites. The gym holds 2,200 people.

If the 49ers can make it to the regional, the home-court advantage may be a significant factor. The Long Beach fans are known for their vocal prowess as well as their towel-waving antics.

“It’ll be fun. I’m sure it won’t be as fun if you are playing against Long Beach,” Long Beach Coach Joan Bonvicini said of the cramped gym. “It will be a good atmosphere for women’s basketball. Every seat will be sold out.”

In that regional, Long Beach is bracketed with Washington and USC is bracketed with Iowa. All those teams have first-round byes but, in the second round, Iowa is at home against the Stephen F. Austin-Louisiana State winner, Long Beach plays host to the Colorado-Eastern Illinois winner, Washington plays New Mexico State at home and USC will play Nebraska at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

UCLA, which had a late-season surge, did not get a bid despite an upset win over Stanford on Saturday night. Stanford (26-4, 14-4) finished third in the Pac-10 and was seeded No. 5 in the Midwest. The Cardinal will play in the second round at Montana (28-1).

Iowa has lost only to Ohio State this season. Coached by C. Vivian Stringer, the Hawkeyes are the symbol of the resurgence of women’s basketball in the Midwest. The team’s style is characterized by defense, having caused 21.6 turnovers and averaging 12.6 steals per game. The Hawkeyes’ winning margin is 22 points.

Iowa is led by guard Michelle Edwards, who is averaging 19.4 points per game.

Long Beach (25-5) won the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. championship Saturday night. The 49ers have been steadily improving during the season after being ranked No. 4 in some preseason polls and then playing at a level somewhat below that. Long Beach made it to the first game of the Final Four last season and expectations were high this season.

“When we were 3-3 or 8-5, boy, I was worried,” Bonvicini said. “We may not have the same record as we did a year ago, but we are a better team. We are playing better basketball. We are starting to jell.”

The 49ers are averaging 87 points per game, second in the nation.

The Trojans also came on strong in the second half of the season to take second in the Pac-10 with a 15-3 record. USC has won the national championship twice with teams that had excellent individual players. This season USC relies on team play.

Cherie Nelson, USC’s 6-foot 3-inch forward, is leading the conference in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 24 points and 11 rebounds a game. Karon Howell is averaging 13.7 points, and Paula Pyers is averaging 11.5 points and 5.8 assists for the Trojans.